Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.~ David Bly

This first full week of the magical New Year, we are visited by yet another Page, the third since the week of Autumn Equinox. Hail and welcome to the Page of Pentacles.

The Pages in the Tarot are often messengers, or catalysts for change. They may indicate important dealings with a literal child (male or female), our own inner child, or simply a new, “beginner’s mind” perspective. They also can indicate taking risks.

But with earthy Pentacles being such a slow and steady force, risk-taking in this suit is more about new directions and manifesting, than recklessness or impulsiveness. We should therefore be on the lookout for important news about money, land, investments, and jobs.

This is a good time for improving and expanding our physical well-being, perhaps with a new health regimen, or by finding new ways to celebrate our relationship to the natural world.

It so happens that this week, the planet Venus has moved into her “home” sign of Libra and is once more the morning star. However, she is slowing down and will complete her retrograde next week. Since Venus governs the flow of money and the financial conditions in our lives, her retrograde is an excellent time to review your assets. Wise planning will bode well for prosperity, as long as we are circumspect.

Which, if I had to choose any one word to describe this Page’s mood, would fit the bill nicely.

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the background shows a grove of trees, a newly plowed field, and the Page standing in a meadow of flowers. It would seem that he is in transition, in a period of possibilities.

In the distance the lofty peaks beckon, yet for now, the Page is focused only on his Pentacle coin, which is almost floating in his hands. Is the coin simply the same color as the sky background, or is it instead transparent?

Certainly our current global economic problems are due, in large measure, to a widespread lack of transparency and honesty in the flow of our treasure.

This week, as the G-20 meets in Korea to plan the financial fate of countless billions, the Page of Pentacles points to the wisdom of handling wealth as he does — lightly, openly, with great care and respect. He is the antithesis of the infamous closed door scheming of these world bankers and financiers. His wealth is made in the light of day. It comes, not from tricky number-crunching, but from honest labor, and actual physical value.

This week, you might do well to review what matters most to you. To what (or whom) do you give the highest value? How do you prioritize the importance of your job? Your health? Home? Family? Friendships? How do you strike the balance between freedom and security?

Then, consider: how much do you actually invest in these matters that you care about? How careful and deliberate, like the Page, are you when it comes to protecting and cultivating what is of the highest value to you?

How do you define success? What would it take for you to feel more expansive, abundant and still be on solid footing? What is your ultimate dream in practical terms, and what are you doing to make it come true?

The Page offers us the opportunity to make positive changes, to solve problems and bring into the real world what we envision. Consider carefully what is already given to you, and use the Pentacles’ steadfastness and stamina to help you be a wise steward of the abundance around you.

It is time to consider new, fresh approaches. Plan now to manifest your dreams.

Beth,
I love the phrase you used “that he is in transition, a period of possibilities”. “The time between no longer and not yet” that Joan Borysenko often speaks about. A sacred time that can be easily missed if we don’t allow time for reflection.
Blessings,
Maggie